bad christmas card. first one from gen. four beautiful girls posing with santa. >> this is from tuck and ann macfee. attempts to get all grandchildren together. if you have more than three. >> my friends try to get them involved in a great picture. >> this is from steve smith. brooklyn and alexis, they are practicing the ho, ho, hos. tweet us the card and photos and e-mail them to us as well. a lot of the time people can photoshop and take a bunch of them and easy to put the card and you can do that. and thanks again, guys. "fox and friends" starts now. >> gretchen: good morning everybody. today is thursday. i am gretchen carlson and thanks for sharing your time

today. brand new information on the newtown killer's final days what was he plan where was his mom in the final days? >> steve: meanwhile the fiscal cliff is bigger, not only with your taxes go up. you might not get a tax refund check even if you are owed money. >> brian: lawmakers will not let that fiscal cliff get in the way of movie night. did the break, did they watch here comes on -- we are live in dc, "fox and friends" starts now. ♪ "fox and friends". >> gretchen: they had movie night? >> steve: yeah. on lincoln. >> brian: most overerated movie of the year. >> steve: not since mr. smith

went to washington has the movie inspired the senate. harry reid rled it out. it is the end of the year. >> brian: it was incredible to watch the president have a 45 minute press conference and john boehner have a 45 second. >> steve: sometimes less is more . >> brian: they are not getting along. >> gretchen: one good message from the lincoln movie other than not getting assassinated. he set out what to do >> brian: he won over leaps and bounds in order to get a deal >> chris: he did. >> gretchen: that's what they are doing now. or trying tompt approaching the fiscal cliff. the democratic senate took the night off to watch the movie. doug is in washington with us. were you invited. >> of course not. you have to figure out the pop corn was free . the movie was free . we know that they love free stuff here in washington.

free movie tickets may have been tough for the guys to resist. it is possible that watching the lincoln movie, may have inspired the members of congress. at the very least. we know that a minimum of 150 minutes last night. two and half hours, that is the run time they were not talking about the fiscal cliff . it was not just a screening. director steven speil burg spent time with senator harry reid. the house is bracing for real business and this will get contentous. house speaker john boehner will bring his plan b to a vote today . it will raise taxes on those who make more than a million dollars a year. >> the house will pass legislation to make serminent tax relief for every american. 99.81 percent of the american

people and then the president will have a decision to make . he can call on the senate democrats to pass the bill or he can be for the largest tax increase in american history. president obama said he will veto plan b. he is holding out a bigger deal that has a lower thres hold for tax hikes. >> at some point, there has to be a recognition on the part of my republican friends that take the deal. they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package and we will stabilize it for 10 years . that is a significant achievement for them. >> today will be a test for

speaker pone bone and a lot of republicans are reluctant to vote for a tax hike. we don't know what is on the mar quee tonight. >> steve: could be fred clause . thank you doug. we hear the fiscal cliff. >> brian: you worked it into that. >> steve: you're welcome. what is the fiscal cliff, in addition to the taxes going up and the sequester and the pay roll reductions. >> brian: and the up of the budget of the defense department. 92 and another part is the amt alternative minimum tax and we have had that tax for a number of years and helps save money for millions and millions of tax filers . yesterday, the chief of the i.r.s., steven miller said because they don't have a deal yet on capitol hill, there is a possibility you will not be able to file your tax returns until march or april and that

could impact hundreds of millions of americans. >> gretchen: they will have to wait for the refunds if they have any of thoses coming to them. the interesting thing is what we have noticed in our family. the refunds come later, and later, and later. why is that? the states are trying to hold on to your cash to make a extra buck. >> brian: i don't file them anymore. >> gretchen: your confession. >> brian: no. they keep writing them. >> gretchen: any minute now they will come. >> steve: for tax purposes. >> brian: right. jail suit or extensive custom suit. >> gretchen: is it is beautiful. >> steve: you have declared yourself a church. >> brian: right. they come to my house and try to bus me. >> steve: and amt does impact many, many americans. without it, the average american tax bill would go up

$3700. >> brian: i have a hunch ed henry came on the radio. there will be a deal by christmas eve. he's convinced of it >> gretchen: i love ed henry but if i agree. there was squabling that the members of congress are going home and see is in their stocking, maybe a little coal or come back. >> brian: i don't like it. >> steve: if the mayans are right. it is tomorrow we are going over the climpt >> gretchen: thatthere has to be some optanism. >> brian: you are saying the mayans are wrong. >> gretchen: i don't want to be on the blog today saying they are wrong. >> brian: you will be on whether you like it or not >> gretchen: here is the headlines. a massive chain crash. it happened in new york. it happened iniac-- yack hank.

the driver lost control and setting off the chain reaction . the truck was carrying debris from super storm sandy. >> it was like a move yechain reaction and so fast. no one could react to it. >> brian: 40 vehicles were involved and the wreck stretched the length of a football field and all lanes are reopened this morning. midwest getting pummeled with a massive snow storm. some states are under blizzard warnings it is expected to dump a foot of the snow in the next 48 hours. in nebraska. roads are shut down because of the snow and strong wins are making visibility difficult. roads are closed in washington state after collisions and spin outs . there is word that one person is hurt. younger brother of madoff will

be sentenced for helping pull off the biggest ponzi scheme in prison. he will be spending 10 years behind bars. one victim said she is unhappy that the sentence was postpone anothered the judge to remain free to attend a bar mitzvah. she brought the miss universe crown back to the u.s. first time in a decade. >> miss universe 2012 is usa. 20 year old olivia culpo eighth american ever to win the title. back in 1997. she beat out miss philippines and miss venezuela who came in third and those are your headlines. most significant thing i heard

about olivia. she's played the cello in carnegie hall. >> steve: she's number one. >> brian: you said the cello is easy. >> gretchen: no, it is not >> brian: always room for a cello. >> gretchen: you are really coming on me in a very joyful and festive way. >> brian: you know how . room will be in the twump suite. >> miss maryland will be the new miss usa. >> brian: miss maryland steps in? >> gretchen: that apartment is full, babe. >> brian: miss usa, miss maryland and miss universe and >> steve: and miss teen. >> brian: they were cheering. >> i think it is miss maryland . excuse me if i have the state wrong. >> brian: i pain is still unbearable in connecticut . five more victims of the sandy hook massacre will be laid to rest today. katherine hubard and ann

murphy and lauren and benjamin and alicon. we have more details from peter doocy. >> for days, investigators are telling us that they have a lot of good evidence to work with in this case. we are learning that adam lanza may not left much of a digital footprint because the hartford current that adam lanza made few if ny cell phone calls and he destroyed his computer in a way that makes it hard to tell if he warned anyone on line about his attack and if he did specific advance research before friday on that computer where he spent his time playing call of duty, first person shooter game. one report this morning said nancy lanza left town for a new hampshire get away and called the hotel where another

network reported she said and the person at the desk right now was not able to confirm anything and the investigators look at the lanza, they are trying to stop scammers from taking advantage of people's good will. someone set up a phony charity and first grade posener's name . workers are trying to hard to make sure the inside of the school, where displaced sandy hook students will attend class once it is ready. they are trying to make sure it is a replicaof the sandy hook school. right to the crayons on the desk. it is moved down to monroe . they are trying to get the surviving students back to class as soon as possible. back to you in new york. >> we can understand why. >> brian: although the

question is whether or not the students and parents feel comfortable sending them back. she was reportedly out of town, the push was to gently try to get him out and get into life. friends were saying you got to try to get him, try to get him forward whether it is to college or apartment or. >> steve: he didn't want to go. >> brian: he didn't want anything to do with it. >> gretchen: following that, should school districts arm their teacher. one district is doing that. how is it working? the superintendent is here next>> brian: avoiding the expensive baggage fees. >> steve: is that my bag? is that my bag . ♪ ♪

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and where the staff is exceptionally friendly. ♪ >> welcome back. back in 2007, the school district made a decision to allow school teachers to carry convealed weapons in school to protect their schools in the waive of potential violence amid new calls for strictor gun control. that district methods are getting a closer look. david sweep is the man behind the program and he joins us

live from fort worth. >> steve: good morning to you. >> good morning. >> steve: you came up with the observation . first it started in the tragedy with the amish school and virginia tech that perhaps those gunmen would not be able to inflict as much damage if the teachers are armed. tell me about that. >> we went through different types of security. we have extended camera systems and external and magnetic locked doors and did everything passively to do. what seems to be to be a problem and it started in 1990 when they made cools gun free zones, we basically left schools open to attack and this is like putting a sign in front of your house saying this is a good idea if you attack me because i don't believe in guns. that's what we tried to avoid. i needed a plan to protect our

kids. what do you do whenne security is at a dentist appointment? >> steve: that's right and the other problem for your school district. you are 20 miles and 20 minutes away from the sheriff's department. if manage and right on the texas/oklahoma border and if something went hay wire. you are on your own for a good piece of time. >> it is not uncommon. rural areas we are our first responders and it is not uncommon for us to take care of business ourselves. but it is concerning. you know, these shootings don't take very long. virginia tech took nine minutes, the shooting from what i am reading took less than three or four minutes. we have an issue with protecting our children and that's the police officers that are wonderful heros and don't get the tribute they deserve. but they are not there most of

the time on time. we have to do something to protect our kids. >> steve: what do parents say about this. are they okay with it? >> we are a high transfer district . that means students come from outside of our district and many bring them because of the extra security. >> steve: you think it would work elsewhere? >> yes, i do. i don't think it is unusualuation. israel has been doing this for years and whenever you have a situation where you can put multiple within a can school building that are there to potential protect the kids, that is a good idea. >> steve: last question for you . you are not saying how many of the teachers and staff members are carrying weapons. but how do you make sure that they, i know they go through special training, but no psychological testing, why is that? >> we didn't. you know one of the most

important elements of psychological testing and finding out is machine is fit and know them. we are a small district and know each other well and we know each other on an intimate basis and we really know if machine is crazy or not or if there is someone who needs to be trusted and obviously we trust our teachers. >> steve: superintendent of the harrold district schools in, texas. thank you for joining us. >> thanks for having >> steve: what do you think about that e-mail with fox and friends.com. it only cost a hundred bucks and so why is medicare charging a thousand for a back brace? that story will get you revved up straight ahead. he is a free agent sort of tim tebow is back on the market maybe. ♪ ♪

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quick head now and welcome to the control room. this is going to be a story. day three and no sights of two inmates who used bed sheet to break free from a jail in hospital. they got into a cab. they went to his moms house and he turned them away and called the cops. they are still on the loose . people magazine. who is in the news.

jeffs quarterback tim tebow and main squeeze. we are talking about camilla bell. that's the true. they are no longer dating. i guess it has something to do with him not starting. maybe she wants member who will play every day. we'll look into the story. >> gretchen: i thought you meant free agent. check out how wasteful spending drive up health care costs. medicare has been paying more than $900 for the back brace you can see on the screen. guess how much it should cost. $100. right on the internet and american taxpayers are footing the bell. our next get of said it needs to stop. sorry you had that job. he's with us with washington to share what needs to be done. good morning to you, kirk. >> gretchen: what a tough job

for you to formally have. this is a ram pant problem. why is medicare reimbursing $900 for that back brace. medicare looks at the items and decides how much you will reimburse and they set a fee schedule of $900. it is like if you walked in the restaurant and the menu said it costs $10 to order dinner and they brought the bill and th taxpayer said i will pay 90 for the meal, it is just crazy. >> gretchen: who is asleep at the wheel here? i know it is complicate it is not just saying medicare saying we'll pay $900, but also the companies that are selling the devices? >> there is a number of the things about the report and questions that are not answered in the report. the first thing i noticed 150 percent increase in the use of the back braces from 2008 from

2011, either there is a rash of disease going around and people need more back braces or something is happening in the fraud hot spots in the country. people are getting thousands and thousands of the back braces. they didn't do what the medicare program and department of justice needed to do which is ask the question, should we pay for these at all in the first place. 150 increase is inconceivable. >> is're is fraud prescriptions or doctors handing them out if they don't need them? ed medicare spokesperson said they should bid for medicare's business instead of paying ash contrary price that are too hew and we'll work with the enspector general to prevent overpayment.

that sounds like capitalism at its best, comp tig. but does that happen with medicare? >> the problem is medicare is too slow. competitive bedding, what they want to do is let the market place work . what you are talking about durable medical companis and they are the ones that make the 350 to 400 percent profit on the items and rather than bid and say we'll charge the government 160 to 1divide 0 dollars. medicare said we will pay you 900 and durable medical companies, when you look at the report and look at what the government is saying, it is ultimately going to come back to the doctors and they need to focus in on the doctors . they need to understand what is happening in the market place. 150% increase in over three years makes no sense and the doctors are the ones who neeted to take a hard look at

it. >> gretchen: interesting analysis from someone who used to be on the inside. one guy found a way to avoid the simple baggage fees. it is so simple. you willish you thought about it yourself. there is a blizzard watch in nine states. i have a sense i am going to be delayed tomorrow. happy birthday to kiss. do we need this song or . what he's 67. ♪ ♪

>> brian: time for the shot of the morning. courtesy of uno's pizza fresh

on the set for us. >> steve: thoot right. >> brian: look at diverse ways to make flavors and vegetables and pepperronniand to matose. why do i point it out. >> steve: every time you buy a family size pizza this holiday season they donate 10 percent to the services for the underserved a nonprofit group that provides support for u.s. veterans . brian the two different sizes. uno's is famous for the deep dish and now they have a family size which is great when you want to take out the big pizza. >> brian: i want to tell you a story. i worked in a place that served piz a. i got high and said i am a writer. >> gretchen: another brian story. wow as i am clearing these tables. i am noticing the dishes pile up. orch we didn't tell you.

waiters do the dishes. i also did. i had to clean those pots. >> brian: the deep did shes i have importance. do we have it cleaned up. >> steve: after your radio show. you have to clean up the studio. >> brian: which i always do>> st unnopizza grill. >> brian: all for a great cause. >> steve: absolutely. >> gretchen: there were 17 lies. that you come back down here to clean up. >> brian: that's one. >> gretchen: you clean dishes. >> brian: that's true. i was hired as dish washer and i was hired as a waiter and they didn't tell me slash dish washer >> chris: unfortunately you still have the same agent. >> brian: it is fantastic. >> steve: thank goodness >> gretchen: count on a brian that relates. he has manage in his life that relates.

>> brian: save me from kitchen work. >> gretchen: that was a fantastic saving. you are worth it to the see you guys. thanks . american pastor imprisoned for two months while visiting his family in iran. he converted to christianity and locked up in his notorous prison while he awaits prosecution. his wife was on hannity show last night. >> we have had a few phone to phone and a few weeks ago he told me, there is prisoners hurting him and there was a couple of rounds of interrogators and they had hit him and physically abused him. >> gretchen: fox news reached out to the state department for comment. we have not received comment. later on in the show. bipartisan group are not happy about a new movie about osama

bin laden. >> you believe this story osama bin laden? >> gretchen: senators said the americans shouldn't believe zero.30 showing water board other interrogations to find osama bin laden it is a dangerous mix of fact and fiction. >> i think they should have knowledge they had a lot of access to the cia and given wrong information . there is an investigation going on about some of the information that they used. >> gretchen: film makers are stanning by the scene. it is a sign that more and more teens will use marijuana. teen's perceptions about the dangers of pot hit the lowest level in 20 yearrs. less than 42 percent of the eighth graders said that occasional use is harmful and 20 percent of the 12 graders feel that way . 45 percent of the seniors admitted using marijuana once.

it involved more than 45,000 students. remember this episode of friends? >> you hide my clothes, i am wearing everything you own. >> oh, my god. that is so not the opposite of the taking member's underwear. look at me. i am chandler. could i be wearing more clothes? >> take a page out of joe's books and wore all of his vacation clothes to the airport. why he didn't want to pay the fee for the baggage fee. i don't know about this guy. he didn't want to pay the fee for being over the weight limit. no word if he was allowed to board is that way. >> steve: might squeeze out the person next to them if he's wearing. >> brian: tripped out of your bag and take manage else out. >> steve: it happens and save $25.

>> gretchen: for a moment i thought you said we all stripped at the airport. >> brian: no, we haven't. >> steve: matter of time. tell us what tim tebow is it stripped of. >> brian: how about his pride. he's not happy he was passed over for the jet's starting quarterback job. >> obviously i am disappointed and handle it the best you can . you want a chance and chance to go out there and play the game you love and help the team win football games and you know, that's all i wanted. >> brian: why did you bring them there, jet a.>> numerous reports said they will part ways with tebow after the season . looking to replace mark sanchez. greg mcilroy will start and he's a seventh round pick for alabama. brian kelley will be the first football coach to win the ap coach of the year award. he led notre dame to a record and a chance to be national

champion in. bcs title game. he recognized for his courage. daniel rodriguez, winning the 2012 discover orange bowl encourage award. he was awarded the bronze heart and played in every game this season. his life is off to a great start. >> steve: meanwhile, all eyes on a great big blizzard and ahead of the busy holiday travel time and closed down roads and chancel would - cancel would flights. tell us where it is at and going and how bad. >> we have blizzard in the midwest and tornado warnings. cold front associated with the system is blowing over the southeast, you can see we have a tornado watch and meaning that the conditions are favorable for tornados and seeping strong rotation on doppler and also looks to be a confirmed tornado just outside of mobile, alabama.

so damage there. you can see where these polygons are. that's where we have our tornado warnings . so dangerous system and not only for the midwest but also the south and gulf coast. speaking . snow. talking about it kansas city up to greenbay. we could get a foot or more of snow. blizzard warnings in the areas of red and gusts of 50 miles per hour and blowing snow and scriz down to nothing and travel is going to be crippled in the midwest and that is going to cause a ripple affect in the country. >> steve: how rare are december tornados in really? >> we are on the low side of seeing tornado month of december but tornados can happen any where or any. it is a rarelyy rare event for the month of december. >> brian: meanwhile chicago is

hit with the storm . we found wfld anita joining us right now. >> hi, and good morning to you, o'hare airport is saying they may have to ground flights because of the wind gusts we are seeing already this morning. personallyy, i want to let our viewers know if you come to chicago. pack two different things. have your rain boots and you will need your no boots for later. things are going to change . another thing to keep in mind. gas up their car. this is the day when the snow hits, the first here in chicago. we'll see traffic start to people are going to be idling for quite sometime and they don't want to be caught in that traffic and not have enough gas . there are wind gusts and we'll keep an eye on our flag. there are moments when it gets going and here in chicago we

are cope dealing with two different changes of weather in a single day it will be interesting to see how we'll handle the first big snowfall . year. reporting live and anita back to you in new york. >> steve: if you are will ifing the adrice fragretchin told us. if you are flying to chicago today wear your rain and snow clothes as well >> gretchen: can you imagine. >> brian: you will be sweating. >> gretchen: oh, my guard. it is not allowed to check in if it is liquid. >> brian: i have the roll on. by the way, why would you get the ports scent. >> steve: you are a ports guy. >> brian: that's true. >> gretchen: next up on the run down, take it away. >> brian: go ahead. >> gretchen: you take it >> brian: i will go. eat your burger would you want taking your wrapper off. can you say lazy. now you guys go. >> steve: turbotax tim may be leaving the days of secretary of treasury behind him.

does he have his eye on another high profile post in washington. stewart varney is next. >> gretchen: oh, my god. ♪ ♪ the world is supposed to end on friday. today giants said they want their money now. . want our money right now. that's not good. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays.

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when you're carrying a lot of weight, c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. there's the sign to the bullpen. here he comes. you wouldn't want your doctor doing your job, the pitch! whoa! so why are you doing his? only yr doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. there is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. side effects may include headache, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

call your doctor right away if you have persistent diarrhea. other serious stomach conditions may exist. don't take nexium if you take clopidogrel. let your doctor do his job. and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. >> steve: got quick head leans for you on thursday morning. you don't have to waitaginizing five seconds it takes to unwrap your fast food. a matt strawn chain has bruced iedible wrapper. it is a play on the tag line that they are so irresist able you will eat the paper and not control yourself.

a skimmer will not do the job here. they jumped and wound up in the deep end. the horse threaded water until they got him in the hallow end and used a harniess to get him out. mr. ed on the soggy side. mr. kilmeade, over to you. >> brian: turbotax timothy geithner may be stepping down in president obama's success term. could he be eyeing another top spot in washington? stewart varney what is more important. >> chairman of the federal reserve. number one money job on the planet. >> brian: replace ben bernanke. >> that's the whisper. ben bernanke is leaving the job and the president has to appoint a successor . there is a whisper out there that maybe current treasure secretary tim geithner would walk across the road and be federal chairman. it is purely a whisper and all

it is . who think about it who has the president's ear in tim geithner. who is close to the president on economic policy and like this with the president. tim geithner who is available and high profile, tim geithner and that's why you have whispers about who might replace ben bernanke? time git git >> brian: how is the chairman of the fed who is in for wall street . now treasury ticket and doesn't see eye to eye with wall street and how would they respond. >> the federal reserve is supposed to be independent and removed from politic white house and removed from congress and independent and separate. if tim geithner were to go from the treasury to the federal reserve and got the president's ear, it would look like he would be doing president obama's bidding. in other words printing money constantly just like ben bernanke has. >> brian: we'll find ourselves to no longer being the world's currence competent devaluing our dollar to that point.

>> wall street would not like it if geithner was nominated or suggested. >> brian: other people mentioned? chris somers. >> furthermorer ticket secretary. eye profile. >> brian: janet, royce chair. >> looks most likely at this point. but there is a whisper about geithner. >> brian: we'll come back here and grab the bull horn and say geithner. >> thank you, brian. >> brian: 12 minutes before the hour. still ahead a marine locked nup mexico for a gun he thought legal. why cann't the president bring him home bill o'rielly said he can. santa himself tells us why happy holidays just won't do. >> this week a man in san francisco got stuck inside of a chimney for more than an hour. i don't know what is

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>> gretchen: good morning, everybody. today is thursday, december 20, 2012. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time with us today. coming up, we're going to have alan west who will be joining us. he'll be talking about the benghazi report and about that jailed marine. former marine who is down in mexico. should the president get involved to bring him home? >> brian: i think i know what he'll say. we're going to toss to steve now. >> steve: thank you very much. and talk about man's best friend, he saved a puppy from afghanistan and now the dog is returning the favor. oh, man. look at that, put her there.

>> brian: "fox & friends" starts now. >> steve: you feel better? >> brian: much better. >> steve: welcome aboard. today is the 20th day of december. it's 12-20. tomorrow is 12-21-12, which as you know, the mayans predicted the world would end. >> gretchen: are we talking about that again? >> steve: it's in the headlines. >> gretchen: i want to be optimistic, okay? >> steve: according to harris polling, 20% of americans believe that it's true. 20% of americans believe that tomorrow is -- >> gretchen: what's going to happen? >> steve: 20% of americans. >> gretchen: i believe in giving away money, but what's going to happen to us tomorrow? >> mayans say it's the end of time. what's interesting, they also asked what your biggest regret is and the number one regret of guys is that they didn't have more relations with the significant other.

>> gretchen: what? what? >> brian: it's true. >> gretchen: it wasn't spend more time with their children! take their mom out to dinner? >> brian: that was great. [ laughter ] >> steve: no. and no. >> brian: on the cover of the new york post, that is one person's motivation. >> gretchen: you know what? here is the problem in my mind with some of these things. for parents, my child last night coming home from hockey practice, getting out of the shower, need to get him to bed. not a lot of time. says to me as i'm drying him off, mommy, is the world going to end tomorrow? >> steve: see, people are talk being it. >> gretchen: he's 7! come on! really? can we keep the christmas spirit acliff optimistic? i don't want to blame anybody. >> brian: you're blaming the mayans. if the world is going to end, don't tell me. that's my belief. i'd like to be surprised. >> steve: all right. fine. i'm going to call you saturday morning. >> brian: promise? >> steve: see how you're doing. we got other headlines for you

on this thursday morning. >> gretchen: we're just hours away from the house voting on plan b to avoid the fiscal cliff. john boehner says it's a common sense plan to prevent tax hikes for near will he all americans. >> the president promised the american people a balanced approach. i hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. >> gretchen: president obama has vowed to veto the bill, but insists that he is compromising. >> this is not a situation where i'm willing to compromise. this is not a situation where i'm trying to rub their face in anything. >> gretchen: plan b would prevent tax hikes for more than 99% of taxpayers. will they get it done before christmas? let us know what you think. a massive chain reaction in new york, one person died on the long island expressway. the driver of a tractor-trailer

lost control, smashed into several vehicles setting off a chain reaction. the truck was carrying debris from super storm sandy. >> it was just like a movie. chain reaction. it was so fast. no one could react to it. >> gretchen: 40 vehicles were involved in the wreck that stretched the length of a football field. all lanes are reopened this morning. day three and no sign of the two inmates who used bed sheets to break free from jail in chicago. there is video after the escape, getting into a cab. what happened to their orange jump suits? they didn't have them on when they got in the cab. they went to conley's mom's house, but she turned them away. she called police. a $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their capture. the westminster dog show just got a little cuter. check it out. these are the two new breeds being added to the competition

this year. the russell terrier and the walker coon hound are on the list. that's not the only change. for the first time in 137 years, the show will be held at two different venues in new york city. really? it's all been in madison square garden. i wond heart second one will be. >> brian: it could be the brooklyn arena. >> steve: we'll keep you posted. here at fox news channel, this is another one of those stories that it seems like we're the only ones talking about it. former marine who, at this hour is chained to a bed -- there he is right there, marine jon hammmar. he's been charged on a weapons charge. it's been trumped up, his family says. the mexican government said what are you bringing that gun in here? he was told it was legal. it is not. now senators on both sides of the i'll say there is no reason that man should be in this infamous prison in matamoros, mexico. >> brian: wait a minute.

he services in afghanistan. he serves in iraq, then he goes on vacation with a gun that might be a little different than the laws allow in mexico and now he's got to go to jail and sit there since august with no one even reaching out in the state department saying hey, mexico, you want to be our friend? let go of the marine. >> gretchen: it's our understanding, he was on his way to costa rica of the he also suffers from posttraumatic stress syndrome. it's my understanding he got clearance on the united states side of things for this gun. it's like off bay half inch or something like that. the bottom line is that he does have the full support of the members of congress who are in his home state of florida. they've been on our show talking about it. allen west will be talking about it. shear what bill o'reilly thinks about it. >> this is a failure of leadership. this year the usa is sending more than $300 million to mexico and they have the gall to imprison an american combat veteran for nothing?

what about the new mexican president? where is snow he has the power to release him immediately. so why isn't he doing it? this is a disgusting situation and we call for president obama to get corporal hammar out of that filthy prison this week. the buck stops with you, mr. president. abraham lincoln would have done it. >> gretchen: wow. >> steve: bill is right. we said the same thing on our program over the last couple of days as well. meanwhile, we are hearing that the department of state is saying, we've got consular services. here is a friend of the marine, woman named jessica fernandez. she says the state department, not helping. >> they haven't been as helpful as we've liked them to be. i'm hoping that the administration is watching this tonight and just understands that we are -- we're trying to be patient and go through all the steps, but enough is enough.

we just want him home. hopefully it's being handled behind the scenes. >> gretchen: i think the proof is in the pudding when jay cancer yerkes the spokesperson for the president, was asked about jon hammmar a few days ago during his daily press conference and he said he didn't know anything about the story and he would have to get back. did he know something about the story and that was just a delay tactic, or could it be that he actually didn't know with the story? >> steve: i bet he didn't know. >> brian: how much is mexico dependent on our tourism? the president who probably wants to get on good footing and make mexico a place where americans want to go, if that president wants to have a successful presidency and america stays home, his economy will suffer big time. every time you see him, think about that marine in jail. every time that he thinks about us, let him know a we're bothered that that marine is in jail. >> steve: brian, remember natalee holloway. after that story how many people stopped going to aruba. >> brian: tons. >> steve: how many people are

going to say, i don't know if i want to chance going to mexico if they're going to jail that guy on trumped up charges. >> gretchen: also the drug cartels, which have already been a huge problem in mexico, which it's my understanding that they're in charge of a lot of these prisons. so that is a whole nother huge issue about why people may not be heading down south. >> steve: let's hope there is some action. the pain unbearable in connecticut. five more victims of the sandy hook massacre will be laid to rest later today. katherine hubbard, ann marie murphy, lauren russo, benjamin wheeler wheeler and allison. this as we learn more about the shooter and perhaps a motive. peter doocy live with the latest. >> good morning. there is a report in today's dan did bury, connecticut news times that says a few years ago, adam lanza really wanted to join the marines, but his mom, nancy, shot him down when she reminded him he didn't like to be touched and at the got hurt, a medic or doctor would have to touch him

to help him to make him better. now, this is coming as authorities are telling us they really might not have that much of a digital foot print to follow in this case. the hartford current is reporting adam lanza made few, if any calls from his cell phones and destroyed his computer in a way that will make it hard to get anything off it so they may never know about any potential warning on-line or what he was looking at on his computer before friday. authorities right now are looking for scammers, some criminal set up a phony charity and first grade victim noah pozner's name and illegitimately profiting off people's goodwill. this comes as funeral services for students and educators continue, including a service today for 52-ye marie murphy, killed trying to shield a special education student, dylan hockley, from gun fire in the classroom. paul simon sang "the sound of silence" at victoria soto's

funeral yesterday. it was an emotional service. there is grief everywhere you go here in sandy hook. it's going to continue today with those five funerals. back to you. >> steve: pain will last nor a long time. thank you. >> brian: the big question now, people are saying should the mom be listed as one of the victims? there is a lot of anger as peter would probably say, about the mom with this whole thing. so they're pretty much leaving her out. >> steve: she also has a lot of friends. >> gretchen: yeah. i think she should be listed as a victim. we don't know exactly what was going on. coming up, four state department officials resign for bungling the benghazi situation. but what about their boss, hillary clinton? colonel allen west here next. >> brian: then a convicted murderer got a sex change operation on the taxpayer dime. now you have to pay for his lawyer, too. or her lawyer. >> steve: they lawyer. >> brian: the lawyer needs to be paid. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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>> gretchen: welcome back. 14 minutes after the top of the hour. four state department officials have resigned now after an independent panel blasted management for its security failures at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. >> frankly, the state department had not given benghazi the security, both physical and personnel resources it needed.

>> gretchen: so with four americans, including our ambassador, chris stevens, killed in that attack, are these four resignations enough or does the white house need to make some serious changes? florida congressman colonel allen west joins us for a discussion on this. good morning to you. >> good morning. how are you doing? >> gretchen: i'm doing just great. so what do you say needs to be done? many people are waiting for hillary clinton to testify. will that happen? >> well, i think it has to happen. i'm not a doctor, but it seems as though that the secretary of state has come down with a case of benghazi flu. i think we have to get to the bottom of this. there is still very countless amount of unanswered questions. we need to know who really did alter the intelligence report, why would anyone be out there roll mull gating the story about some video being the cause of this, when we know that was not case based upon this report, and just because we see the resignations of these bureaucrat s, i find it very interesting that some were those

who testified before the government oversight committee, that does not mean that this ends. i don't think that this should become the new normal and the next thing you know, four years from now, we have hillary clinton running for president when we had the death of the ambassador, two former navy seals and a former foreign officer. >> gretchen: two things stood out in this report. it seemed to blame ambassador chris stevens for having gone to benghazi, which many people were upset about. but also that they said, you know, the next time around, let's make sure this doesn't happen again. that kind of was upsetting to people who really would like to know the answers of why this actually happened in the first place. >> the first thing, when you talk about blaming ambassador stevens, does that mean we have a state department that allows its ambassadors to basically run rough shod and do whatever they want in these respective countries? that let's me know there is a problem with the chain of command and also responsibility. if there is no oversight of our

ambassadors, then we have greater problems at the top. that means the secretary of state. >> gretchen: let's move on to the next topic because we were just discussing the former marine, jon hammmar, who has been chain to do a bed in a mexican prison since august. you're from florida. i know many members of congress in that state have been trying to get him help. but should the president get involved? >> i think the president absolutely has to get involved. i put it in this perspective. if the president can get on air force one and go to michigan and do a rally with union members talking about right to work, then i think the commander in chief can take the time to get involved and get this marine home. we live with a very simple maxim in the military. we leave no man behind. i think the president of the united states of america should not depart washington, d.c. if jon hammmar is not going home. >> gretchen: do you believe that jay carney, when he said he didn't know about it, that he didn't actually know about it,

or that he wanted to rethink how he was going to answer the question and get back to the reporter? >> either up with is bad -- either one is bad. if you don't know about it, that's unconscionable. if you're trying to play games with the life this marine -- this is despicable, this picture of him chain to do a cot. this is a war veteran, someone giving to give the last full measure of devotion to this country in iraq and afghanistan. we have an administration that has seemingly turned its back on him. i think everyone should be calling the white house right now today and say, get jon hammmar back home asap. >> gretchen: all right. colonel allen west, also a member of congress from the state of florida. thank you so much for your time. merry christmas. >> thank you. merry christmas. >> gretchen: do you think you're in good hands with the surgeon? frightening new numbers may have you thinking twice before going under the knife. plus, he's got one greeting this time of year. look who is here, santa is here! merry christmas!

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>> brian: we continue to track this massive winter storm pummeling the midwest. nine states facing blizzard warnings as thousands of travelers prepare to pass through it. charlie arnold is live in overland park in kansas. does not look good. >> no, it is a very cold out here, very windy, which is making the snow blow into people's windshield making the visibility low for those drivers. we're expecting up to three inches this morning, which is more than we thought we might get. but not as bad as the areas

north of us are getting. some of them are receiving up to six to ten inches. not a good time, especially with so many people trying to get out of town with the holidays. the wind gusts going up to 50 miles an hour this morning. the roads, people are driving, you can see driving a lot slower than they typically would trying not to slide around, trying to stay in their lanes. but yeah, definitely seeing our first good snow storm out here in the kansas city metro area. definitely not going to last. so we'll see as the day progresses. hopefully everyone is able to make their way out and get to where they need to be for the holidays. fox 4 news working for you live in overland park, kansas. >> brian: how many layers do you have underneath that lovely down jacket? >> let's see. i've got my scarf on. i've got a cash mere sweater, tank top underneath that. so i have several layers. you can see i have my ugg boots

on. these keep me pretty warm. >> brian: all right. i'm optimistic you're not going to be that cold 'cause understand the weather and the challenges. thanks so much. >> yeah, thank you. >> my -- >> steve: brian was like joan rivers on the red carpet. what were you wearing? >> gretchen: i have to say, i was a little nervous with how that was going to go. anyway, have we taken the political correctness too far, replacing merry christmas with happy holidays across our american culture? who better to ask than a man who has helped santa claus 365 days a year. >> steve: that's right. shall is the author of "being santa claus, what i learned about the true meaning of christmas." that's the name of the book, santa, if you will, i understand, you don't like to say happy holidays. why? >> well, actually i was -- people always have happy holidays, but i tend to be a

little bit more specific. i can't find any reference where santa has ever said anything other than merry christmas. so i like to wish people a merry christmas. >> gretchen: what's the response to all the hundreds and thousands of kids that you've come across in all these years that you've been santa's helper? >> well, what can i say? children are wonderful. i've always had pleasant responses from them and parents, too. i like to think that i'm a santa for boys and girls of all ages. >> steve: indeed. i know that people will see you on the street throughout the year and refer to you as santa. your car says the santa mobile and you have got the biggest belt buckle i have ever seen, santa. [ laughter ] >> i like to say that the elves got the idea from elvis. [ laughter ] >> steve: or a prized fighter. >> gretchen: you've been around for a long time doing this. what do you make of the

political correctness part of our culture? have you seen it change over time? >> i have. you know, i never had a problem being santa claus, but there was a time a few years back when suddenly i started showing up at christmas parties and was told that they were having holiday parties. so therefore, they didn't need a santa anymore. and it was about that time, that was the time when i think the surgeon general said santa should lay off the cookies and start picking up more carrots and broccoli. i heard santa in australia said ha, ha, ha, so as not to affect certain gals and santas in england couldn't have children on their laps anymore. >> steve: we know you love the spirit of christmas throughout the year. we also know santa, that there are a lot of young viewers and they're look forward to you dropping by their house if a couple of days. any messages for the kids of the

world? >> well, anyone who knows me knows i like to talk to children and i like to sing songs and have fun. so this is why it's important for children to be in bed when i come by, because if they're not, then i may get behind schedule and some poor child might not get their presents. so if they're still up, i just pass by their house and try to make it back later. so far i've been able to, but why take the chance? >> gretchen: that's such an important piece of advice. if you hear the pitter patter, you just might not stop. i think so many kids need to take that to heart. your new book is "being santa claus, what i learned about the true meaning of christmas." >> steve: you needs? this christmas eve, i'm not only going to look for rudolph, i'm going to look for the giant, shiny belt buckle. you could see that from google earth [ laughter ] it will thereby. >> steve: thank you. he's not joining us from the

north pole today. he's joinings from atlanta. >> gretchen: merry christmas. >> steve: straight ahead, he's an american and a christian pastor. so why is he sitting hyped bars in iran when he hasn't been charged with anything? is that story is coming up. >> gretchen: who doesn't love mac and cheese? now you can enjoy this christmas without feeling all the guilt. we'll tell you which one is better. eat this, not that. i love these cookbooks and they keep coming out with more. they're coming up. [ both ] people loved our wedding slide show.

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>> looks like those fiscal cliff talks are breaking down. john boehner told congress to prepare for plan b. you know what that means when congress talks about plan b? the rest us end up with plan f and u. okay? that's the plan we get. >> gretchen: that's one of his better ones 'cause it's unfortunately probably true. there is still no deal -- >> brian: i'm predicting a deal on christmas eve. >> gretchen: i'm not. >> brian: christmas miracle. i think it will be an after school special next year. >> steve: i think it's going to go right to the end. >> gretchen: somehow from this we're going to move on to talking about the fiscal cliff. so what did the debt credit control senate do last night? they went to the movies. >> steve: steven spielberg was there, please.

>> gretchen: doug has more. okay, doug. so was this for inspiration station or what was it? >> maybe so. i guess if congress can't practice statesmanship, at least they can watch it. this is one of those persons that comes with being a member of congress. we may be drawing closer and closer to the fiscal cliff, but lawmakers last night took some time to watch one of the longest movies to come out of hollywood this season "lincoln." the run time, about 2 1/2 hours and this wasn't just a screening. there were also some celebrities sightings as the director, steven spielberg and star, daniel day-lewis, dropped by to visit with harry reid. all of that as the house is preparing for a big day today. house speaker john boehner is going to bring what he calls his plan b to a vote. that's a back up plan to prevent the big across the board tax hike that would hit if in fact we go over the fiscal cliff at thend of the year. the boehner plan would raise taxes, but only on those who make more than a million dollars

a year. >> the house will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every american. 99.81% of the american people. then the president will have a decision to make. he can call on senate and democrats to pass that bill, or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in american history. >> president obama meantime, is still holing out for a plan a, something that would raise more tax revenue with a lower income threshold for high rates. and he's promised to veto plan b if it reaches his desk. >> why is the economy, make sure we've got a platform for long-term economic growth, that we got our deficit under control, and we make sure that middle class families are protected is if we come up with something that members of both parties in congress can support.

>> you want another complication? if they can't reach a deal on the fiscal, the irs in this letter is now warning congress that there could be huge delays for processing tax returns because of uncertainty over the alternative minimum tax. so 80 to 100 million taxpayers, according to this letter, may be unable to file their returns in time. and by the way, if watching "lincoln" for 150 minutes didn't consume enough time, they could set up a screening for" the hobbit," 169 minutes. >> brian: also inspirational. >> steve: delay action. thank you very much. >> brian: waiting for me to start. now for the rest of your headlines. american pastor in prison for two months in iran without explanation. the pastor was born in iran and became a u.s. citizen while visiting family in iran, he's

locked up. it's believed he was awaiting prosecution for his christian work in iran. evidently they're not for that. his wife spoke to sean hannity last night. >> we've had a few phone to phones and few weeks ago, he told me there is prisoners hurting him and there was a couple around of interrogators, the second round had hit him and had physically abused him. >> brian: fox news reached out to the state department for comment. we have not gotten a call back. it could be a message on our voice mail. >> steve: taxpayers shelled out a fortune for a convicted kill tore have a sex change. now they're on the hook for her lawyer, too. a judge ruling taxpayers are on the hook for $700,000. the money will pay for michelle's legal team. michelle, who used to have a first name of robert, convicted of killing his wife back in

1990. >> gretchen: okay. they're known as never events, mistakes that should never happen in medicine, like operating on the wrong patient or sewing someone up with a sponge still inside of their gut. but a brand-new study from johns hopkins find surgeons make those mistakes more than 4,000 times a year in the united states. >> brian: talk about returning the favor. a man adopted a puppy from afghanistan and the dog wound up saving him right back. his name is joe mccarthy, retired firefighter now. already had four strokes and is paralyzed on his right side. recently his dog, meat ball, started barking and wouldn't stop. when his wife went to see what was wrong, she found her husband having a seizure. >> he knows i'm not feeling good, he'll sleep right here in the corner just so i don't roll off. >> no training, no formal training. he came from the mean streets of afghanistan. he saved my husband's life. >> brian: thanks to meat ball, joe is okay.

>> steve: that's great. all right. >> gretchen: trouble for holiday travelers as a massive winter storm hammers the midwest. it closed roads and canceled flights. janice has more. a lot of people will be upset and frustrated and might not get o grandma's house. >> the good thing is that this is a few days ahead of christmas. a lot of folks will be traveling today and friday and through the weekend. unfortunately, this storm going to cause major problems across the midwest and that's going to have a ripple effect across the country in terms of airport delays and on the roads where we have blizzard conditions, roads are really not advised to be traveled. there is some of the video we're getting in from wisconsin. they believe is north of milwaukee. you can see the snow coming down and we're seeing wind gusts in excess of 30, 40 miles per hour. this is video out of lincoln, nebraska. again, where you can see the snow coming down and again, with

those blizzard conditions, it's going to be next to impossible to travel on the roadways because of the wind gusts. but i want to show you the severe side of this system because we showed you the blizzard. we also have the threat for tornadoes. if you can believe it. tornado watch in effect for parts of louisiana, mississippi, alabama and florida. and we have one tornado warning just south of monroeville, seeing strong rotation on doppler radar. unfortunately, we're seeing some major damage, interstate 65 near mobile, closed in both directions. apparently there is damage to the airport. homes are damaged and we're getting reports of people trapped. so we'll keep you up to date on that. but these tornadoes went through around 4:00 a.m. local time, steve. so people might have been sleeping and they might have not known the tornado was coming, so that's dangerous part of the storm, unfortunately. and looks like we'll have crews heading to the scenes and we'll bring you the very latest.

unbelievable blizzard conditions and tornadoes today. back to you. >> steve: you don't hear about that the week before christmas very often. thank you very much. moving on with all the holiday parties, christmas parties and cooler weather this time of year, it's pretty easy to pack on the pounds. i'm living proofment but a new book called "cook this, not that, skinny comfort foods" is filled with ideas how to show how you can you can have your cake and teet eat it, too. i'm joined by co-author, matt golding. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> steve: janice was talking about the food. >> wintertime you want warm, comforty, salty, fatty flavored. >> steve: fatty food. >> that's unfortunate reality. it's also the most worst for us. then restaurants where fat, salt, carbohydrates are so cheap. >> steve: for instance, every kid loves macaroni and cheese. >> nutritional criminal tonite. 1990 calories. like having ten krispy kreme doughnuts for dinner.

>> steve: mac and cheese, you can make a skinnier version. then when it comes to, for instance -- chris, come here and look at the cheesecake. >> bluebury cheesecake. a brick on the table at every single holiday table. 990 calories. 44 grams of saturated fat. >> steve: how do you cut the calories? >> we used low fat cream cheese. ricotta and a wild blueberry sauce you make. you'll save 600-calories with this one recipe swap. >> steve: something else i have loved is chicken pot pies. that has a lot of fat in it. but you've got a recipe. you can go to our web site and we'll have it up there. >> it has 1390 calories on this version. our version here, which will start with a basic vegetable saute', mushrooms, onions. would you mind roll out some of the puff pastry there. >> steve: this is a prepared thing. >> exactly. buy that in the store, freezer section. roll it out. we're going to add chicken,

frozen peas. >> steve: all right. i'm ready. >> we're going to use milk, chicken stop and half and half. not heavy cream. >> steve: through the magic of television t goes from that to this. >> takes 15 minutes to go from that to this. ladle this in. you're going to top that off with a pastry top. no heavy cream. a little bit more. >> steve: it is another way to save calories because the crust isn't all the way. >> this is 360 calories versus 1590. >> steve: so it is possible to have your cake and eat it, too. >> absolutely. >> steve: matt, the book is "cook this, not that." i think it's done. >> that means it's time to eat. >> steve: i don't think it has anything to do with the mayan calendar. very good. all the recipes are on our web

site. thank you very much. merry christmas. all right. over to you two. i know you're hungry. >> gretchen: it's a military tradition at west point that's been around since the days of george washington. we're talking about prayer and now it could be banned. >> brian: you may not have known him before, but basketball coach pat kelsey's inspirational words after the shooting in newtown. after his team lost, making him a household name, the coach here next. >> i don't know what needs to be done. i'm not smart enough to know what needs to be done. i know this country's got issues. is it a gun issue, a mental illness issue or a society that has lost the fact, the understanding that decent human values are important? our leaders, i didn't vote for president obama, okay. but you know what? he's my president now. he's my leader. i need him to step up to my daur on may 18th, five days later, i had a massive heart attack.

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>> if you didn't know about this coach before, you will now. pat kelsey's post game press conference after the school shooting in newtown. >> i'm going to walk into myusek into two pink rooms, okay, with a five-year-old and a four-year-old laying in that pink room with a bunch of teddy bears laying in that room. i'm going to give them the biggest hug and the biggest kiss i've ever given them. there is 20 families in newtown, connecticut, walking into a pink room with a bunch of teddy bears, with nobody laying in those beds. and it's tragic. >> brian: pat kelsey joins us now. coach, your words and your mindset then after a loss to ohio state captured america. you caught america by storm. people talking about you. where do those words come from? did you know you were going to say that when you walked in? >> i didn't. it was an unbelievably emotional several days like it was for the

entire country. i first found out about it on a bus on the way up to athens, ohio, before we played, well before the ohio state game. like the entire country, i couldn't get out of my head for three days, it's all i thought about. i can relate because i have two little ones that age. i have a five-year-old and a four-year-old. and several hours prior to that bus ride on friday morning before i found out about the shooting, i had breakfast with my two little girls. and my wife put pancakes in front of them and we laid the hershey kisses out on those pancakes and my little girls drew me pictures that i could take with me on my road trip and we crossed off the calendar to christmas eve like we do every single day. i gave them a kiss good-bye and there were similar breakfasts taking place in connecticut with the families of those little ones that lost their life. and the next time that those families saw their little ones is when they were identifying their bodies. that shook me to my core when i found out about it. and it's all i thought about for several days and what kind of --

when i walked into that press conference after the ohio state game, a hard fought game that we played really well and there were tons of cameras and media types in this press conference and i've never been in a room like that. i mean, we're at winthrop. the press conferences that i've been is one camera and one reporter. but walking in to -- after we played ohio state buckeyes, all they wanted to talk about was how we defended aaron craft and held them to 65 points and i answered those questions because that's my job. but when they asked me at the end if i had anything else, i said i do have something else. and for some reason, i felt there was some divine intervention that it was up to me at that point because i had that microphone and i had that platform to say something and i felt like i was speaking on behalf of the american public. i've had hundreds of e-mails telling me -- >> brian: coach, you have -- most coaches have a reputation

of having tunnel vision. but you talked about our country. listen. >> i didn't vote for president obama, but you know what? he's my president now. he's my leader. i need him to step up. okay? mr. boehner, the speaker, he's a cincinnati guy. okay? he needs to step up. i know this microphone is powerful right now because we're playing the fourth best team in the country. i'm not going to have a microphone like this the rest of the year, maybe the rest of my life. and i'm going to be an agent of change with the 13 young men that i get to coach every day and the two little girls that i get o raise. >> brian: coach, what do you want to hear from the president? you talked about from the top down, are you hearing the right stuff? >> you know, i think so. i just think is a water shed event and the 9-11, pearl harbor, hopefully this moment which was one of the most tragic massacres in the history of our country, is a turning point and it's a wake-up call for awful us. it wasn't just a call of action

for president obama and speaker boehner. it was for everybody. i made the point that i haven't been that politically active. it's my civic duty to sort of peel away the onion and start figuring out these things because i want to leave a society to my little girls that we're proud of. we think we're in the greatest country in the history of civilization -- >> brian: coach. >> yes. >> brian: you're doing that and we got to have you back and give you more time. my only regreat is that i played soccer, not basketball, and i used up all my eligibility. thanks so much for joining us this morning. best of luck the rest of the way. >> thanks for having me. >> brian: straight ahead, 'tis the season to donate to charity. not according to john stossel. why he says you should keep the money yourself begin. tomato, obviously. haha. there's more than that though, there's a kick to it. wahlalalalallala! smooth, but crisp. it's kind of like drinking a food that's a drink, or a drink that's a food, woooooh!

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>> gretchen: we're a generous country. americans give a greater percentage of their income to charity than anywhere else in the world. sounds good, right? >> brian: here is a controversial take. our next guest says sometimes your money helps others more when you pursue your own self-interest. how have is that so? let's ask the host of stossel, john stossel, author of this book "no they can't." what do you mean, we're better off keeping it ourselves? >> we're not. i give to charity. we ought to. i'm talking about the entrepreneurs. they have these lifetime achievement awards and they talk a minute about their business that made them the money and ten about their charity work. in fact, business people create much more wealth pursuing their own interests. they invent things, they create jobs. >> brian: hire people. >> spreads wealth far and wide burks they are guilted while charity is considered heroics. bill gates, he's doing good

things -- >> gretchen: what do you mean guilted? you don't know whether in the mind of bill gates he's guilted into giving most of his fortune to the less fortunate across the world or because he actually wants to do that. >> that's true. bill gates is an unusual case because he's applying his business techniques to charities and not just giving it away, having standards. but a lot of these guys are guilted into giving to this cause or that and vilified for their business work. >> steve: what are you suggesting they should do instead? >> if you're creating jobs, great jobs, give to charity when you die. >> gretchen: you know what? >> brian: come up with another great invention and hire more people. >> or just d. rockefeller, vilified for his wealth, yet he saved the whales 'cause he lowered the price of gas so much, people stopped killing whales for whale oil. >> steve: that's good for the world! >> you argue with me about everything! >> gretchen: because i'm worried about all the charities out there during this time of christmas when they need our

help. so i'm just being an advocate for the charities and you're saying these billionaires shouldn't give to them. >> i'm saying most of these billionaires ought to wait 'til they're no longer in business. 'cause they're doing wonderful stuff making money. >> brian: provocative. >> gretchen: let us know what you about this. >> steve: he did say that the rest of us go ahead and give. >> brian: watch and you'll have more tonight. >> more tonight. and also great charities. >> steve: indeed. john, thank you. bad news, santa, with all of president obama's regulations about to become a law breaker, santa is, have you ever considered your carbon foot print? >> brian: hollywood actress, praising the president for not prosecuting pot smokers. huh?

>> gretchen: good morning, everybody. today is thursday, december 20, 2012. i'm gretchen carlson. i hope you're gonna have a great day. new details about the newtown shooter and that's raising this question: should we arm our

teachers? you will hear from a superintendent who has decided to do that. >> steve: in a couple of hours, congress will grill a top aide for hillary clinton over the benghazi attack. but what about the current secretary of state? brand-new details about whether she will or will not testify. >> brian: and welcome to the stoner states of america. celebrities hailing the president for not prosecuting pot smokers? how empty are their lives? "fox & friends" starts right now >> gretchen: good morning, everybody. we've got a lot to get to in our final hour of "fox & friends" today. >> brian: right. meanwhile, the top of the story which has been the top of the news since last friday, season that should be a time of joy marked by heart wrenching loss in newtown as five more victims of the sandy hook massacre will be laid to rest today.

katherine harvard, lauren russo, benjamin wheeler, allison wyatt. this as learn brand-new information about the shooter and a possible motive. joining us live right now from newtown who has been pushing this story with new details, peter doocy. >> just about everyone in 2012 has a digital foot print. but it appears adam lanza may have made his very hard for authorities to follow because the hartford current is reporting that he hardly ever made or received any calls from his cell phone. we know he wasn't much of a talker to begin with. as for text messaging, we're told those records are not yet available. they're also reporting that adam lanza damaged his computer in a way that's going to make it very hard to recover any kind of information about who he was talking to, if he posted any kind of a warning about what he was going to do, and what he was looking at, searching for before

friday. and as authorities look into the lives of the lanzas, they're also investigating some sick scams, including one where a con artist set up a fake fund in the name of noah pozner, a first grader, who was buried on monday. yesterday 27-year-old vicky soto was buried. she was killed trying to save her students' lives. paul simon sang "the sound of silence" at her funeral. that was her favorite song. her favorite team was the yankees and captain derek jeter called vicky's mom yesterday. we don't know exactly what they talked about, but we're told it was an uplifting conversation. today one of the five funerals is going to be in new york state for the 52-year-old aide, ann marie murphy who died trying to shield dylan hockley, one of the first grade special education students that she was working with. there is grief everywhere you go here in sandy hook as it seems like most people are really still in quite a state of shock. back to you.

>> gretchen: no doubt. thank you, peter. >> brian: we were talking about gun control. let's stop the assault ban. let's get it back to where it was up until 2004. and people are saying, well, we got to rein in and tighten up loopholes. that may be well and good, but i think a lot of people, me included, are speaking about it today or tomorrow hardening the target and maybe arming the teachers and take some of those retired cops and retired military and if they can come in in a decent rate, because a lot of these budgets are stretched, if they can come in at a decent rate, be armed and work security. >> steve: sure, there are proposals, why don't we use some people from the national guard to go ahead and be armed at our schools? down in the harold, texas school district, pictured there, what they've done, they've got 100 kids in a school building that is 20 hips away from the nearest sheriff's department.

if there was a gunman came in there and started shooting, it could be over in minutes and they wouldn't still thereby for another 15 minutes. so a couple of years ago, after the amish tragedy in 2006 and virginia tech in am 2007, what they decided was they were gog have school teachers actually armed. the superintendent there, we had him on fox friends friends earlier. he says that program has worked very well there. shootings don'y long. virginia tech took nine moneys. this shooting the other day f what i'm reading, took less than three or four minutes. we have an issue with protecting our children. that is our police officers who are wonderful and heros and they don't get the tribute that they deserve. but they are not there most of the time on time. we have to do something to protect our kids. whenever you have a situation where you can put multiple people within a school building

that are there to potentially protect the kids, that's a good idea. >> gretchen: i'm all for protecting the kids, as a mom, i grapple with this issue, though, because do we want our kids to grow up in a culture knowing that when they go to school, when we used to go to school, our parents are like, oh, our kids are safe. they're there for six or seven hours, don't have to worry about them. do we want our kids now to grow up in a culture where they know people are armed because this could focusly happen? i grapple with this issue as a mom as to the effect ha it has then down the road. >> brian: what's the effect? they're in that culture. they have no say in the generation in which they're born and if you would rather -- i would rather them get used to reality now. >> gretchen: the reality? >> brian: the reality is that there are school shootings and i want my kid to get out alive. >> steve: look back not so far ago to that shooting at the oregon mall and the guy had already murdered two people.

i think his gun jammed. then right over there was a guy in the mall who had pulled up issue he had a concealed permit to carry a gun. he pulled out his gun, the guy saw the guy with the gun and killed himself. was that a deterrent? >> brian: this happened, too, when this guy saw the first responders enter the building, that's when he killed himself. they got there quicker or if somebody else was able to point a gun back at him, he stops. >> steve: what they do in harrold is they have special training for the teachers and other staff members to make sure they understand gun safety and when they should not use it. it is putting the people in a pickle. if you were 20 minutes away from help and somebody comes in with a gun, if you had somebody there with a gun, they might be able to deal with it right there. >> gretchen: these are all fantastic points. i'm just saying from looking through my kids' eyes or through mom's eyes, it's a tough issue. >> brian: don't wear camouflage

or uniform. dress like any other teacher. >> steve: i think kids would like the idea that they're safe ultimately. i mean, we've got pilots on airplanes with guns now for safety. >> gretchen: let's get to your headlines now. we're hours away from the house voting on plan b to avoid the fiscal cliff. house speaker john boehner says time is running out for the president to work with republicans to reach a deal. >> the president promised the american people a balanced approach. i hope the president will get serious soon about providing and working with us on a balanced approach. >> gretchen: president obama has vowed to veto that bill, but insists that he is compromising. >> is not a situation where i'm willing to compromise, this is not a situation where i'm trying to rub their face in anything. >> gretchen: plan b would prehave not tax hikes for more than 99% of taxpayers. we'll have a live report at the bottom of the hour.

day three and no sign of those two inmates who used bed shoots to peak free from a prison in chicago. the f.b.i. has surveillance video of the two after the escape. get this, they were getting into a cab without their orange jump suit souths on of the then they within to connally's mom's house, but she turned them away and called police. $50,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their capture. all lanes reopened on the long island expressway after a massive chain reaction crash left 33 people hurt and one person dead. it happened in the town of yapink, new york. the driver of a tractor-trailer lost control, setting off a chain reaction. >> it was just like a movie. chain reaction. it was so fast. no one could react to it. >> gretchen: 40 vehicles were involved in the wreck that stretched the length of a football field. she brought the miss

universe crown back to the united states for the first time in over a decade. >> miss universe 2012 is usa! >> gretchen: 20-year-old olivia culpo the last american to win. the last time it happened was in 1997. the rhode island native beat out miss philippines and venezuela who came in third. congratulations. and those are your headlines. >> brian: another good day for america. >> steve: let's talk about there is a new film out called "the house i live in" and some of the producers and some celebrities pictured right there, brad pitt, john legend, danny glover and russell stemmons have all issued statements saying they applaud president obama for not prosecuting pot smokers with regard to the federal prosecution of marijuana users in colorado and washington. he said it's not a top priority

now that it is legal on a state basis in those two states. >> gretchen: okay. so he's got these celebrities and we've had many conversations on this show before about whether or not people care what celebrities think about these particular issues or not. but do they have control over the young people's minds? so if a young person who goes to brad pitt movie hears him say that he applauds the president for letting people get away with this type of thing d that influence our young people? well, i bring to you a new study now. a new study shows that teens' views on the dangers of pot have fallen to a 20-year low. so you have to ask whether or not culture has anything to do with the perceptions that our children have about this powerful drug. >> brian: we all know in california they laugh at the medicinal marijuana charge against prescriptions and they're going in and it's becoming a total travesty and a joke. i think personally it's the ultimate gateway drug. i don't think that it's anything that should be accepted or parents should just say that's part of the evolving process of

today's society. i think it's a huge problem. however, how many of our jails should be filled with people who smoke pot? >> steve: yeah. exactly. now, i heard the gateway thing for decades. but here is the other thing and i saw this this morning. >> brian: i just came up with it. >> gretchen: no, actually -- >> steve: those who use cannabis heavily if teens and into their adulthood show a significant drop in i.q. between the anales of 13 and -- ages of 13 and 38. while some say it's completely harmless, there you are, you smoke a lot of pot, could shave off some i.q. points f that's important to you. >> brian: fred savage during the wonder years, look at hip, very successful producer. >> steve: all right. >> brian: he's working behind the camera. >> steve: also in this poll, 23% of high school seniors say they had smoked pot the month before the survey was taken.

one in four. so it's out there, folks. allall right. straight ahead, four state department officials forced to resign over the attack in benghazi. but what about their boss, hillary clinton? michelle malkin will talk about that on the other side of a brief timeout. >> gretchen: and santa, you better put yourself on the naughty list, you're about to break about a dozen government regulations. peter johnson, jr., is that peter johnson, jr.? >> brian: no. no mom, in the his tory of moms, has ever turned down a handmade ornament. that's why we sat up santa's wonderland at bass pro shops.

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>> steve: you hear about this, a shakeup at the state department following that scathing report on the attack in benghazi where four americans were murdered. >> gretchen: assistant secretary of state eric bodieswell and three others taking the fall for what investigators called systemic failures. >> brian: who else should pay the price for bungling the response to benghazi that cost four lives? here to weigh in, michelle malkin. we had a bunch of duty officers, is that enough? >> i don't think so. i think that the head of the department of state needs to answer some questions after her own head is healed and i think that obviously it's the president of the united states who made a big grand stand of saying that he was the one that

took ultimate responsibility that still needs to answer some questions here. and there is a lot in this report from the so-called accountability review board that raises far more questions than it answers. accountability usually implies that you name names and, of course, there is still one of these officials who was unceremonyiously thrown under the bus who was not even named. and it sort of makes sense that the officials who were targeted here had to do with empathy, security or diplomatic security. the fact at that the diplomatic official in charge of security was also thrown under the bus raises questions about what decisions he specifically had made. i mean, the report talks about this concept, this systematic culture of husbanding resources,

i think was the phrase. in other words, that these people were making decisions about penny pinching and hoarding money that short changed the security that led to the deaths of americans. >> steve: that's inexcusable. so hillary clinton it sounds like is going to, once she heals up after the concussion and flu, she's going to be doing some testifying on capitol hill, probably in mid january. but michelle, we all know that if this were a republican administration and this happened on a republican's watch, immediately afterwards, there would have been calls from the main stream media for the ouster of the secretary of state, who, in this case, wants -- >> brian: is ousting herself. >> she says i'm out. but still she wants to be president. >> yeah. yeah. that's right. and i would hope that american voters have a long enough memory that this will still be a salient issue should that come

to pass in the next four years. but again, it still leaves obama himself off the hook and the fact that this man was responsible for ordering an entire cadre of people to lie to the nation and to the world, not just about the video, not just about the protests that didn't happen, but about what his particular decisions were and where he was -- >> gretchen: michelle, we're never going to find that out. i think we've been saying that for the last couple of months because we're going to call president obama to testify about it? i mean, we're not going to find out that and if hillary clinton comes to testify, i'm not even sure we're going to learn that much more from hillary clinton. >> well, i would just urge the republican watchdogs who are largely responsible, in addition to conservatives who raise questions about this and the few people in the media, including

those here at fox news, who kept on this to out the truth, we finally did get the truth here about the video and about the systematic failures, this den of imcompetence in the department of state, keep pushing. keep demanding those answers. keep shedding light because cockroaches ultimately cannot hide. >> steve: that's what we do every day smear -- here and we'll do it in the next year. and we won't see you next week, so merry christmas and happy newie. >> back at you. >> gretchen: coming up, military tradition at west point that's been around since george washington. prayer. but could that change now? >> brian: and bad news, santa, with all of president obama's regulations, you're about to become a law breaker. have you ever considered your carbon foot print? peter johnson, jr. is on the case.

>> brian: time for your news by the numbers. first, over 200 years, that's how long west point had the tradition of praying at public events. but now the american united for separation of church and state has called for it to be banned. they've given west point 30 days to respond. next, 4-point # 1 retail price of fresh beef per pound. at an all-time high. the increased blamed on last summer's brought. and up to 2 million. that's how much a judge rule one of our bravest heros is owed in back pay from the u.s. postal service. special forces sergeant was

fired when he took a military leave to serve in afghanistan. that's all i have. steve? >> steve: i have more along with fox news legal analyst peter johnson, jr. has represented many different parties from different walks of life during his legal career. now we've got word that one very jolly bearded guy needs help, is father christmas breaking the law? santa claus is the topic. >> no, he's not. i met with santa on monday and he's got some concerns, very happy looking forward to christmas day. there have been times in the past that -- tough times for santa. his sanity was questioned in the 19 40s. we all remember that. he won that lawsuit in the new york supreme court. then later in the 1960s, he was captured by the martians and the kids intervened to set him free. >> steve: who can forget that? >> i've spoken to santa claus about these things. he wants me to set a few things straight. not the first time. a few years back, 1998 at the

white house, he intends to go back to the white house in 2013 and have meetings with the president on some critical children issues. lot of things going on. big government, big cultural changes in the country. it's affecting santa claus in a big way. >> steve: let's talk a little bit about this, on this program we've been talking how times have changed. historically, the kids leave cookies out for santa. that could be a problem. >> and he wants kids to leave the cookies out. he's not paying attention to the bloomberg sugar laws. he is defying those laws. he will go to court and fight them if necessary. he happens to be cutting back on caloric intake. but not that night. kids will need to do what they need to do. >> steve: that night santa goes all over the planet delivering speed very fast. >> 650 miles per second, he has an exemption.

it's a magical exemption in terms of the speed limit. there is some osha complaints and peta complaints. how is santa treating the reindeer and the elves? he's treating them absolutely great. he's beaten all of the osha violations. the peta lawsuit has been defeated. the reindeers are happy as heck. >> steve: what about big labor trying to unionize the elves? >> they tried. they lost. there was a vote. one vote. the elves decided to resign. >> steve: santa versus obamacare? >> no. exempt. the elves magically live forever. they don't need health care and they're not going to pay a dime or the fines. hooray for santa claus. santa claus wins bigger and better in 2012. 2013, he goes head to head with aclu and peta big time. hooray for santa claus. >> steve: i think that's what they're singing.

♪ hooray for santa claus ♪ . >> steve: very nice. give your client our best. >> i will. i'll be seeing him on saturday. >> steve: does he pay by the quarter hour? >> pro bono. i would never charge santa claus a dime. >> steve: all right. thank you very much. >> merry christmas. >> steve: merry christmas. next up on the rundown, the u.s. treasury is bragging about selling the taxpayers' stake in general motors. but there is a part of the story the government not telling you. we'll fill you in. then the country is $16 trillion in debt and we're getting pretty close to the fiscal cliff. but there is plenty of time for movie night in washington, believe it or not ♪

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>> brian: fox business alert. brand-new jobless numbers. 361,000 first-time unemployment claims were filed last week. that's higher than the week before and a little bit more than expected. they expected 357. it was about a month ago when they were over 400 for two weeks in a row. >> steve: but still the week before christmas, tough time to go into the unemployment office and ask for help. >> gretchen: last week, 343. 361 this week. extended unemployment benefits, one of the things that president obama is pushing for in the fiscal cliff negotiations but republicans keep asking where will all this continued money come from? however, last night they stopped negotiating. they had a movie night. steven spielberg and daniel day-lewis attending "lincoln." >> have a new birth of freedom. government of the people, by the people, for the people. >> gretchen: could this possibly inspire compromise?

wendell goler live at the white house with the latest on the talks. what's the word at the white house this morning? >> there is always hope. bough sides have controlsed, but both are still positioning themselves. john boehner backed away from his demand that tax cuts be extended on everyone. boehner's cutoff is a million dollars. president obama's is 400,000. there is stale good distance apart. today house members will vote on what boehner calls his plan b, which he hopes will put pressure on the president. >> the house will pass legislation to make permanent tax relief for nearly every american. 99.81% of the american people. then the president will have a decision to make. he can call on senate democrats to pass that bill or he can be responsible for the largest tax increase in american history. >> boehner says the president's

plan would raise taxes more than it would cut spending. but mr. obama says boehner's plan b would actually raise taxes about $1,000 for families making $30,000 or less a year. it would also phase out $1,000 tax credit for families that don't pay taxes. the republicans say that's stimulus spending. that's not tax cut. and that was supposed to be temporary anyway. the president advised the speaker to accept his latest offer. >> take the deal. they will be able to claim that they have worked with me over the last two years to reduce the deficit more than any other deficit reduction package. we will have stabilized it for ten years. that's a significant achievement for them. they should be proud of it. >> meanwhile, both plans would let the social security payroll tax cut expire, meaning everyone's like three have a tax increase of some size next year. whether or not there is an agreement to avoid the fiscal

cliff. gretch? >> gretchen: allall right. wendell goler, thanks very much. we have other headlines to tell you about. the u.s. treasury is brag being selling the taxpayers' stake in general motors. but there is a part of the story the government isn't telling you. the plan guarantees the taxpayer loss now on the $49.5 billion bailout. the buy back share price is 27.50. the u.s. needed $53 to break even. taxpayers will lose more than $13 billion on the sale of those shares. >> steve: meanwhile, this a fox news alert. the benghazi hearings that we've been telling you about underway right now on capitol hill. these are live pictures coming in. senator john kerry, the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee just delivered opening statements. he said secretary of state hillary clinton would rather be there today instead of one of her aides who is testifying in her absence. she backed out after falling, after stomach flu and she

apparently suffered a concussion. she was not hospitalized. she's getting better at home where she is apparently working. senator kerry says she is looking forward to testifying in mid january. meanwhile, scathing report just out about the attack leading to a big shakeup. eric boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security resigned and three other state department employees relieved their taught and on administrative leave. live testimony there. >> brian: bipartisan group of senators is not happy with the studio behind the new movie about bin laden. >> you really believe this story? osama bin laden? >> brian: they say americans shouldn't believe the movie called "zero dark thirty." it shows water boarding. they say it's a dings mix of fact and fiction. >> i think they should acknowledge that they were either given wrong

information -- they had a lot of access to the c.i.a. in fact, one of the -- there is an investigation going on about some of the information that they used. >> brian: jose rodriguez is one of the people that did interrogate with those enhanced interrogation practices and says the movie was absolutely right and that's how they were led to bin laden. so there is a big debate going on with movie. >> gretchen: you no longer have to wait five seconds it takes to unwrap your fast food. brazilian burger chain, bob's, released a fully edible wrapper. the new packaging, a play on the tag line which claims they're so irresistible, you won't be able to control yourself. >> steve: there go. >> gretchen: gross. >> brian: soon you'll start thinking everything is edible. you'll be eating your loose leaf. >> steve: that's only in that country. you still are to unwrap it.

>> gretchen: come on. >> brian: i just ate some pizza. >> steve: which was wrapped in what? >> brian: in sports, tim tebow not happy he was passed over for the jets starting quarterback job again. >> obviously a little disappointed. trying to handle it the best you can. all you can ask for is a chance, chance to go out there and play the game you love and help this team win football games. you know. >> brian: he led the broncos to the playoffs last year and beat the steelers and he can't get on the field with up with of the worst teams in football. numerous reports say he will part ways with them and that is as off kilterred as you will ever see him. they're looking to trade sanchez. he's due to be paid $8 million next year, as am i. greg mcelroy, 7th pick, out of alabama, third year, he's second year, he's going to

start. it's a first for the fighting irish. becoming the first football coach to win the coach of the year aword. he led notre dame to a perfect game and a chance to be champs first time since 1988. >> steve: congratulations. >> brian: i'm sure he can hear you. you may be wondering why i am -- >> steve: keith? >> brian: let me try that again. go back with the others. let me take it from the top. this isn't live, right? you may be wondering why i'm holding a wooden baseball bat in my hand. well, there is a very good reason. louisville slugger made each of us personalized bats. look at this! got my name right over here. also made with all american products. [ cheers and applause ] the custom glove actually helps save 20 american jobs. you can design your own by going to sluggergift.com. look with it says there on the

finger. >> steve: very nice. >> brian: box. >> steve: gretchen says fox friends friends. >> gretchen: wow. thank you very much. good job. at least something is made in america. >> steve: fantastic gifts. thank you very much. this it? this is the gift from you? thank you, louisville slugger. the central part of the country getting slugged with bad weather. we're following the weather. possible tornado touching down in mobile, alabama. strong winds blowing over cars and trucks, knocking down walls. there are no reports, howeverrer of any major injuries at this time. this comes as many holiday travelers are dealing blizzard in the midwest. janice dean, weather machine, with the very latest as people start to think about holiday and christmas travel. >> i know. a bad day for all of this to start happening across the midwest and tornado warning earlier around 4:00 a.m. local time for mobile, alabama. can you believe it?

they have another tornado warning in that same area. just really unfortunate. there is your tornado watch for parts of the south, including louisiana, mississippi, alabama, and the florida panhandle. look at the tornado warnings that we have right now again for the mobile, alabama area. reports of a lot of damage to homes. we had reports of people trapped. fortunately no reports of injuries or deaths. but when we have the tornado warnings here, we have a tornado warning just west of biluxury. this -- biluxi. unfortunately, the cold side of the storm is bringing blizzard conditions to portions of the central plains and upper midwest, six to 12 and 18 inches of snow with wind gusts in excess of 40 and 50 miles per hour and that's leading to blizzard conditions for all of the states here that you see in red. heavy snow, wind gusts in some cases over 50 miles per blowing snow. here is a look at some of the wind gust we're seeing.

in some cases, zero visibility. winds gusting close to 50 miles per hour. toward milwaukee and chicago, des moines, over a foot of snow here for you. omaha, nebraska. close to 40,000 people without power right now. so wind gusts again in excess of 30, 40 miles per hour across chicago, milwaukee, and that's going to cause some major travel delays in this area. you know what happens when you have travel delays here? there is going to be travel delays across the nation with that ripple effect. all this stuff is going to move into the northeast tomorrow morning. just in time for gretch ton try to get a flight out. >> i know. thanks a lot. >> gretchen: thanks a lot. coming up on "fox & friends," american pastor jailed and tortured in iran because he's a christian. our next guest just got off the phone with his family, brand-new develops coming up next. >> steve: finally, a movie the whole family can watch together this christmas season. the actor, tom everett scott here live. >> we tried to introduce just a little bit of sugar and it was like going off the rails of the

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>> steve: time for a little headline news from the control room. she has a smile that can light up the room and her mug shot, that's miss america hopeful, sarah richardson, after being busted for drunk driving in new mexico. 22-year-old resigned her crown as miss has cruces. a man reportedly wore all of his vacation clothes at the same time to the airport in order to avoid the fees for his luggage being too heavy. smart travel says he could have avoided that by investing in clothes from scott everest, they have hidden compartments so you don't need a bag to travel. now you know. gretch, back to you. >> gretchen: all right. thanks, steve. for one american family, two months is turning into a tragic holiday season.

32-year-old pastor most likely won't be home with his wife and children for christmas. he's being jailed in iran, even though no formal charges have been filed against him. the iranian born christian convert is an american citizen. but was taken into custody while visiting family in the country. since then his family has been working around the clock to get him free. >> few weeks ago he told me there is prisoners hurting him and there was a couple around of interrogators, the second round had hit him and had physically abused him. >> gretchen: lisa has been following this story and has spoken to the family. good to see new person. what does the family say? >> very upset. i speak to his wife frequently. she's living in the united states with two very young children. we're less than a week away from christmas. obviously her emotions are higher at this time of the year.

she never thought that would potentially be the last time she would see her husband. >> gretchen: he's a christian convert. he had been to iran before. they had some sort of agreement with the country that he would what? >> in the last two years, he's been to iran nine times. so why would this time be the one time that they would prevent him from coming back and actually jailing him in one of iran's most brutal prisons? in 2009 was the last time he came under this government surveillance and they said to him, you know, you want to come and go. your family is here. your parents are there. they're also christian converts. you want to come and go, we're going to make an agreement with you for as long as you don't participate in any formal home church activities. again, he's one of the most -- the largest leader of this home church movement in iran because christian converts cannot formally pray in a church because we have they have turned away from islam. he's under government

surveillance, we believe, for this reason, for his involvement this, he promised he wouldn't be involved and that he would come and go see his family. he's there on humanitarian mission as well. him and his family own land and they're building a nonsectarian orphan age there. that was one of the reasons -- >> gretchen: i guess in his mind felt that it was worth the risk, because everyone knows you probably can't trust the iranian government and their word. but for him it was worth the risk for this humanitarian mission. >> talking to his family and i actually had a correspondence with him before he went to iran and he actually had e-mailed me, thanking fox news for covering another case and finding himself in the same predicament. he felt he could trust them and that their word was good, as long as he expect his part of the deal, they would keep theirs. >> gretchen: we'll hope and pray he can make it back to me to be with his family. thanks so much. >> pleasure. >> gretchen: it's a movie every kid and parent and grandparent

will find funny. >> why did you give him cake? >> i gave him what she wants. >> where are the kids now? >> i put them on the treadmill 'til they calm down. >> gretchen: tom everett scott here. let's check this with martha. >> good morning. this morning we've got the long awaited benghazi hearings. will get underway on capitol hill. we'll take you there. vice president joe biden has a big job. to help prevent another newtown, massacre. this as five more funerals take place today. we will stay on that important story today. also this morning, we have bill o'reilly joining us here. he has taken on the case of marine vet jon hammmar. can he get home in time for christmas? all that coming up when bill and i see you right here at the top of the hour. than that though,

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>> brian: the perfect christmas comedy. shows the difference in parenting styles between parents and grandparents. >> first of all, they don't eat any sugar. >> no carble. >> we try to introduce a little sugar and it was like going off the rails of the crazy train. oh, my gosh. >> wheels op the bus go round and round ♪ ♪ . >> did you give them cake? >> i gave them slivers! >> where are the kids now? >> i put them on the treadmill 'til they calmed down. >> i told you my parents couldn't handle this. >> you look good in cake. >> steve: that guy right there, he plays the father in the

movie, tom everett scott, co-stars as phil simmons in the upcoming movie "parental guidance" and joins us live from l.a good morning to you, tom. >> good morning. hi. >> steve: okay. you're an actor in that. but in real life, you have children. how close to that character are you out in los angeles? >> they pick me up out of my life here and put me down in a movie about my life. i couldn't have handled this role, i think i would have had to reconsider acting. >> steve: so tell us about the similarities. >> they're all there. one of them is my father-in-law moved in with us, so we have the whole old school versus new school thing happening in my house. >> steve: so you won't let your kids -- at the real scott house, you don't let your kids eat sugar? >> oh, no. i give my kids sugar.

>> steve: good. >> of course, i do. >> brian: let's talk a little bit about -- it stars bette midler and billy crystal. is it hard acting disgusted by their behavior because they're such legends? >> yes. yes. it is because i'd be laughing with them most of the time. then have to precontinued like what they were saying was just wrong. >> gretchen: that's great. one of the best things i heard about the movie is that you can take the whole family. is that true? >> yeah. absolutely. this is a wonderful, heart warming movie that i think everyone is going to understand some aspect of it because it really does stretch cruise the generations and there is something in there for everybody. there really is. it's also more touching movie than i realized until i saw it and i was crying 'cause it's just true. a lot of the stuff is true. >> brian: with all these movies and after the shooting, people say, we better not premiere. it's too violent. you can go to the movie, despite

the news, it's breath of fresh air. >> it is. hopefully it's a nice resan francisco spite -- respite for everybody. >> steve: in the tv commercials, you see the one scene where billy crystal argues about the kid who is out and a bat comes into play. >> brian: i know. you know there has to be baseball in a billy crystal movie. back in two minutes to reflect on everything that happened to us today. >> steve: in 30f seconds? is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. and with my bankamericard cash rewards credit card,

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